Henry
Henry is a green mixed-traffic tender engine who works on the Crotoonia main line. He was originally a failed prototype engine, and needed special Welsh coal to operate properly. Following an accident when pulling the Flying Kipper (an express fish delivery train on Sodor), Henry underwent an extensive reconstruction, giving him a new shape. Personality Henry is generally well-behaved, but he is occasionally arrogant and vain. Henry is at heart a very hard worker, but his frequent bouts of illness hinder his work. His illness almost always involves his boiler having some sort of issue. That doesn't mean however he can't be a big softie at heart. He loves nature and would spend most of his spare time going to the forest to be at peace. He may not be too bright at times and he can also be really worrisome, as shown in Tillie to the Rescue where he was worrying about whether or not The Fairytale Arrow would make it to Celgreb City on time. Technical Details Basis Henry's history is unusual. The Fat Controller had intended to buy a Robinson Atlantic of the Great Central Railway, but was swindled and instead received Henry. He was built from rejected plans for Sir Nigel Gresley's A1. The plans were stolen from Gresley by an anonymous rival. The resulting engine had a superficial likeness to Gordon, but aesthetics were as far as this went. Henry in this shape developed performance issues from flaws in the design, compounded by his stay in the tunnel. Henry was a bad steamer: with good-quality coal he could get enough heat to make plenty of steam, but when there was a poor lot delivered, his undersized firebox could not hold enough coal to make a proper fire. On advice from Henry's fireman, high-grade Welsh Coal was ordered, which made an appreciable difference in Henry's performance. When Henry suffered an accident and severe damage that winter, the opportunity was taken to send him to Crewe, where he was rebuilt an LMS Stanier 5MT "Black Five" 4-6-0. The Grey Tender Engine is another member of this class. 14EE6958-B394-4272-9BA8-9519A07FF4EF.jpeg|Henry’s basis Livery Henry is painted in the North Western Railway's green livery with red and yellow lining and the number "3" painted on his tender sides in yellow. He was repainted in the North Western Railway's sky blue livery with red and yellow lining at the end of "The Three Railway Engines" and remained so until the beginning of "Troublesome Engines," when he was given back his own livery to avoid him being too similar to Gordon. In "Henry and the Express" he was briefly painted red-orange as an undercoat before his standard green coat was applied. In "Henry in the Dark", he was accidentally painted with a glow in the dark green livery. In the Railway Series, he carries two builder's plates on the sides of his cab. In the learning segment, Being Repainted, he had a cream undercoat. Trivia *Henry has appeared in the Railway Series more than any other engine, having been in both the most books and the most individual stories. *In the 1997 annual story, We Wish You a Merry Christmas!, Henry's fireman was revealed to be named Ted. In the magazine story, Henry Helps, Old Bailey is Henry's driver. *Awdry's own model of Henry was as troublesome as its fictional counterpart; it never really worked properly. The model was eventually scrapped but never replaced. *Henry is the second character to be removed from the Steam Team, the first being Edward. *In the Greek narration of the Classic Series, Henry is called "Charlie". From the thirteenth season onwards, Henry has been referred to with his original name. *One of Henry's models is on display in Japan at the Hara Model Railway Museum (previously at Nitrogen Studios) and is currently wearing his sad face mask. *An ERTL Henry appeared in the American sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond. *Henry's ERTL model lacked splashers and was modelled after his rebuild in Season 1 making him closer to both the original Dalby illustrations and his real-life counterpart. *No merchandise line has produced a model of Henry in his original shape, although a prototype was produced for the Thomas Engine Collection Series. *When nameboards were still used in the series, Henry never had a nameboard shot where he was in his new shape. *Martin Sherman said in an interview with Sodor Island Fansite, that he originally auditioned to voice Henry, but did get the part for Thomas and Percy instead. *Henry (along with Thomas and James) are the only characters to have at least one line of dialogue in every special. They, along with Gordon are the only characters to appear in every special. *Although he does not have a Fowler tender in the television series, some merchandise of him have him with said tender. *Henry was called Henri in the French dub of the first seven seasons. Category:Characters Category:Tender Engines